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A very real shot at notching the AL West top seed was in the hands of the Texas Rangers during the 2025 season. Unfortunately, they would lose eight of their last 10 games and fell straight to third in the standings. Manager Skip Schumaker was brought in to turn the tides of their fate and he plans on seeing Josh Jung at third base more often. An injury prevented Jung from being with the team during a bulk of Spring Training. But, against the Kansas City Royals, it looks like an All-Star season is coming.
All of that starts in MLB Opening Day against the Philadelphia Phillies.
Jung shakes off injury concerns in Rangers
The main concern for Jung was that he might rush into playing instead of fully healing from an adductor strain. Schumaker was not able to have him at camp too which increased the woes that Rangers fans had for their third baseman as MLB Opening Day nears. However, those worries were quickly erased in the five exhibition games he ended up playing after recovery. Jung even hit an insane 417-foot moonshot of a homerun when they faced the Royals just for safe measure.
Throughout Spring Training, Jung has been insane. He notched a line of .545/.545/1.09 and is likely going for more as the Rangers prepare to face the Phillies to start their season. The third baseman outlined how he felt since returning, via Shawn McFarland of The Dallas Morning News.
"The body has felt good, and that’s all that really matters. Once the leg felt good, I knew it was going to be fine, but it was getting to the point where it felt normal, I guess," Jung said.
The Rangers ended up demolishing the Royals and getting the 12-3 win. While many may think that this will serve as a huge ego boost for Jung, Schumaker posits that there is still a lot to be desired in his third baseman's form. He particularly sweated bullets when he saw Jung swing the bat.
"His legs are underneath him, Obviously, that was the biggest step, because that was kind of what hurt him the most, was the swing. The running was okay, the fielding, but the frustrating part for him was the swing," the Rangers manager declared.
Schumaker and Jung still have about a week to fix the third baseman's form. Spring Training games against Royals, Arizona Diamondbacks, and San Francisco Giants will determine what happens on MLB Opening Day. However, it does look like the injury concern is starting to die down.
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